The days of Savannah Christian flying well under the radar are over. In fact, it's safe to say it will be a while before the Raiders are again considered a true underdog, and they have last week's surprising Georgia High School Association second-round baseball playoff series to thank for the newfound respect.

Savannah Christian came into Wednesday's series against Dodge County with not many people in either camp expecting the Raiders to easily walk out with 7-5 and 7-1 wins to eliminate the Indians. But can you really blame the naysayers?

The Indians had a 26-2 record and were ranked No. 3 in the Class AA rankings when they met up with Savannah Christian. With two strong left-handed pitchers - one of which had been scouted by the Boston Red Sox a week earlier - a better-than-average game at the plate and home-field advantage, everything pointed toward Dodge Co. advancing to the third round.

But while much ado was made over the Indians' season, many forgot what the Raiders had been able to accomplish up to that point, as well. Savannah Christian was sitting on a 19-7 record going into the Dodge Co. series, which may not seem too impressive to the untrained eye.

Look a little deeper and things change drastically. Of Savannah Christian's 24 games before the second round, 16 of them had been against opponents who made it into the postseason. Of those 16 games, 10 were won by the Raiders, including a first-round sweep of Westside-Augusta.

"Everybody was talking about Dodge Co. being such a great team, but we've got to keep remembering that we're a great team," Savannah Christian coach Carl Carter said. "That's how we feel. We're a good team. People second-guess us sometimes, but they don't need to second-guess us. We're from a tough region."

In Class AA's Elite Eight right now, three teams, including the No. 2 Raiders, are still representing Region 2-AA. No. 1 Pierce County and No. 3 Jeff Davis are the other two and both also swept the first two rounds.

Given all that information the Raiders have been privy to up until now, it's really no surprise to them that they made such quick work of one of the top teams in the state. That type of accomplishment, however, hasn't gone unnoticed, and Carter laughs when he thinks about how Savannah Christian won't be sneaking up on too many teams anymore.

But with two straight sweeps and a proven claim to be one of the better teams in Class AA comes respect, and the Raiders finally feel they have achieved the kind of reverence they have deserved all along.

"I definitely think we've got respect," Savannah Christian shortstop Clay Harrelson said. "We know we can play with anyone in the state if we play like we did (Wednesday), and we're capable of playing like that again."

The road the Raiders have taken to this point might actually turn out to be their biggest test of the season. Sure, the first two rounds looked easy, but now Savannah Christian has to quickly get past the second-round series win and get focused on its third-round series against Atlanta's Holy Innocents', which starts at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Savannah Christian.

The Raiders' business-as-usual mentality will likely help, but catcher/first baseman Kevin McCarthy pauses when asked how Savannah Christian can possibly top what it has already accomplished.

"These doubleheaders take a lot out of you, so you've got to keep pushing all day," he said. "You've just got to do that and try hard."